The Dangers of YouTube

Modern day parents have a lot on their plate, and that’s putting it lightly. With the coronavirus raging around the world, schools and preschools have been canceled. Kids are at home — and there’s no going outside or having friends over. For most parents, leaving the house is not an option and neither is bringing in a babysitter to help to take care of them.

If that wasn’t enough, many parents are also expected to get their job done from home. This means that parents aren’t just handling endless day-to-day chores like cleaning the house, cooking and taking care of their kids. They are also trying to take part in online meetings and finish up their tasks so that their employers will continue paying their salaries and they can pay their bills.

As long as this is our reality, it’s natural that parents are increasingly allowing kids to zone out in front of screens for hours at a time. And the internet doesn’t disappoint. There is a never-ending amount of content that kids are more than happy to consume for as long as you’ll let them.

How else will you ever get any work done?

With more than 2 billion users logging into YouTube each month, it’s safe to say that it’s the world’s leading video platform. Seemingly endless amounts of free, popular shows and movies that appeal to small children are available for consumption. From “Peppa Pig” to “Paw Patrol” and “Frozen”, there’s definitely something for everyone to be found.

But YouTube isn’t all fun and games. Immoral businesses can easily get their ads in front of your kids. This can lead to unwanted in-app purchases if you’re not careful. What’s more, endless hours of content can lead to screen addiction and abuse and age inappropriate content is readily available.

FamilyKeeper gives you tools to control and monitor your kids’ online behavior to make sure that they’re protected. By connecting your child’s YouTube account to the FamilyKeeper app, you can monitor what they watch and limit the amount of time they’re watching. FamilyKeeper instantly notifies you about any in-app purchases your kids make, so that you can put an end to that behavior before it gets out of control. You can also block or limit their use of YouTube so that you stay in control of how long your kids watch it and prevent overuse.

The Problem with YouTube

YouTube’s autoplay feature plays a big part in keeping kids happily engrossed in the content for hours at a time. The way it’s supposed to work is that you choose a video and when it ends, a similar video automatically starts. In theory, these videos should highly resemble the one you already chose. The reality unfortunately, is quite different.

The autoplay feature is used by digitally savvy online marketers to hack the YouTube algorithm that determines which video to present. Instead of showing your kids videos that are like the one you chose, these videos are actually highly appealing advertisements for merchandise and other swag. These ads present toys and dolls related to the characters appearing in the videos. In many cases, links to purchase this merchandise are easily accessible from the video itself.

But the dangers of autoplay don’t end there. Once autoplay gets started you have no idea what it will show. If you’re not careful, the autoplay feature dishes up age inappropriate videos that have no connection with the content that you initially started off with and are definitely not suitable for small children.

YouTube doesn’t disappoint when it comes to kids who have grown out of cartoons either. Older kids watch videos of famous gamers playing popular video games like Minecraft and Fortnite. This phenomenon has sprouted online celebrities who boast tens of millions of subscribers and make millions of dollars a year from the ads on their videos. These ads promote in-app purchases and premium, costly games in a way that’s hard for even an adult to resist.

With kids exposed to these ads for hours at a time, and the purchase just a couple of taps away, it’s no wonder that many of them try to purchase the products presented there.

FamilyKeeper is a parental control app that helps you control the way your kids use their smartphones. Monitor text messages, apps and social media networks to make sure that your kids are protected and are using their smartphones in a safe way. When times are tough and finding someone to take care of your kids is impossible, FamilyKeeper has your back by making sure your kids are protected.